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According to her most recent personal finance report, covering 2011 and filed in May 2012, Rice and her husband own between $300,002 and $600,000 in TransCanada stock. Those holdings brought them as much as $20,000 in income in 2011. Federal officials are required to disclose the range of an investment rather than the exact amount.

TransCanada isn’t the only Canadian energy company in Rice’s portfolio. She also has investments in pipeline firm Enbridge, utility TransAlta and oil and natural gas companies Encana, Suncor and Cenovus.

About a third of Rice’s personal wealth — an amount as high as $43.5 million — is invested in Canadian energy interests, according to On Earth.

Environmentalists quickly criticized the potential selection of Rice given her investments.

“It’s really amazing that they’re considering someone for secretary of State who has millions invested in these companies,” Bill McKibben told On Earth.

“[Keystone XL] would be one of the first decisions she would make, and she’s not qualified to make an unbiased decision,” said Jane Kleeb, executive director of the anti-pipeline group Bold Nebraska.

According to the Office of Government Ethics, federal officials holding significant amounts of stock conflicting with their duties must sell the stock, recuse themselves from the decision or set up a qualified trust.

Who exactly would take over the Keystone review in the event of a potential recusal is unclear, not least because Rice’s nomination is far from certain, and relevant key State Department posts could become vacant in coming months.

In a December 2008 letter attached to previous finance disclosure forms, Rice vowed to “not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter that has a direct and predictable effect on my financial interests” without receiving a proper waiver.

Activists have challenged the State Department’s review of the pipeline as “cozy,” citing emails between State officials and a TransCanada lobbyist who was also a former campaign aid for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her 2008 presidential run.

A contractor chosen by the State Department to conduct an environmental assessment also had ties to TransCanada.

The department’s inspector general earlier this year cleared the review of any wrongdoing.

TransCanada spokesman Grady Semmens declined to comment, saying potential nominees are “a matter for the president of the United States.”

Rice’s office and the White House did not immediately return requests for comment.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 6:14 p.m. on November 28, 2012.

Stupid Republicans. Get her appointed now. Stop the posturing and preening in front of cameras. It doesn't matter what twit is Secretary of State. That was proven by the tenures of Awful Albright and Thunder Thighs Clinton. As long as she's an efficient liar, she's qualified. Our standing in the world is so low now, it can't sink any lower. Well, I guess it can, but the majority of the voters couldn't care less. She's a twit, she's a good liar, she's reasonably photogenic, and hopefully she's happily married and won't rack up hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on travel 24/7 so she doesn't have to go home to a philanderer husband, as Thunder Thighs Clinton did.

Oy! Ambassador Rice is worth US$43 million? Give SOS efforts a rest Ambassador! You certainly don't need all the Republican abuse. O can move you into the white house as a key advisor; O doesn't need approval to do this and will still have the advantage of your superb international diplomatic credentials....and can send you on problem solving missions around the world at his discretion.

Politico: "About a third of Rice’s personal wealth — an amount as high as $43.5 million — is invested in Canadian energy interests, according to On Earth. Rice has other holdings in Chesapeake Energy, Royal Dutch Shell, Devon Energy, Iberdrola, ATP Oil & Gas Corp. and Rio Tinto Limited."

Wow! She is clearly in the 1% of the wealthy. She's even richer than the Clintons. Why does she need that much money???

Rice is a wealthy woman. She has invested well. Her father understood finance. He was second black governor of the Federal Reserve System. Then, she married into money. Her husband's father owned the Victoria Plywood Company, a lumber company. If she becomes Sect. of State, she can always divest her holdings-- and the environmentalist can put pressure on her to divest.

This really isn't news, because all of this was on her financial disclosure forms and the environmentalist have been critical of her for sometime. Furthermore, most of the Senators new about her wealth from when they confirmed her for the UN Ambassadorship. The intent is to call public attention to her wealth, and to make sure that the public doesn't see her as a poor little black girl. The objective is to make sure that she doesn't come across as a sympathetic person.